Can You Be The One To Save Me?
by Miss Jessie Cullen
Summary: Bella is being abused by Charlie at home because Renee died giving birth to her and is an outcast at school. When five new students arrive, could they be the ones to save her from a life of not knowing what's around the next corner?  Lemons and language
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

BPOV

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

I rolled over Monday morning to the sound of my stupid alarm clock. It was a dreadful noise, much too shrill for this early. It was also the noise I dreaded each day, knowing that I'd have to get up and continue with my hellish life. I hit it across the room and it shut up, but not before clattering over the floorboards and skidding to a halt in the doorway.

I held my breath, praying to god that _he _hadn't heard me. When no sound arose from the silence, I straightened out my aching limbs and carefully walked over to my bedroom window. I sighed in relief when it became evident that my father and Chief of Police, Charlie Swan, had already left for work, because his cruiser was not in the driveway.

I showered and dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a purple top with my converse trainers. Then I went into the bathroom to inspect the damage. I was sporting a big blue bruise on my left cheek, which I deftly hid with my recent best friend, cover-up. Then I tackled my hair by brushing it multiple times, making it shine. It was my best feature; it fell down my back in luscious chocolate curls, matching my brown eyes perfectly. However I had horrid pale skin and my eyes, although rich in colour, were poor in life. They were dull and dead. If anyone had had the decency to make eye-contact with me they would have seen how much I was hurting, mentally and physically. But no. Nobody in this god-awful town cared about me, and they never would.

I'm not complaining, though. It _was_ my fault. My mother Renee died giving birth to me, and Charlie blamed me for her death. Which I suppose was spot on. If I had never been conceived, my poor innocent beautiful mother would still be alive, instead of me, ugly, useless, waste of space, Bella Swan.

I kissed the picture of my mom on my desk and promised her, "I _will _get through today. Goodbye, I love you." This was my normal routine to give me strength. If it wasn't for my mom's memory, I would have crumbled and killed myself long ago.

I gritted my teeth as I chugged through the school gates in my truck. It was hideous – Charlie hadn't wanted to waste precious money on my first car, so he'd gotten a family friend, Jacob Black, to fix this monstrosity up so that it was just good enough to run.

I noticed briefly that there was an extra car in the car lot that I had never seen before. It was a silver Volvo, outshining all the other vehicles in Forks by far, especially my tangerine truck.

I sighed as I grabbed my bag from the seat beside me. Here we go.

EPOV

I was just leaning up against my Volvo along with my family; Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper; when I saw her.

She was beautiful, way more pure and pretty than any other human girls I'd ever seen before. Whereas they wore extensions and caked themselves in makeup, this girl had long waist length chocolate locks and a determined expression. I tried to read her thoughts to find out her name, but something came as a shock to me – _I couldn't_.

Confusion washed over me, fixing a frown on my face. Jasper looked at me questioningly, having felt my emotions. I just shook my head. I'd have to look more into this.

The bell rang inside the building, and my girl – wait, where did the 'my' bit come from? – walked quicker, it seemed that she was in a rush for something. Maybe she was just a very enthusiastic student. My family and I began walking inside, and I listened to all the thoughts swarming around us like angry bees as the other kids stopped dead in their tracks to watch us, some openly staring at our inhuman beauty, others stealing glances when they thought no-one was looking.

_Wow, she's hot. The things I'd like to do to her- _I growled softly, so that only vampire ears could hear me. I _hated _those bastard humans thinking shit like that about my family. The majority of the boys' minds seemed to be thinking about sexual fantasies including themselves and my sister, Rosalie. The others stopped to look at me, puzzled. I was about to explain when someone thought, _Ha, that little one is already strutting about like she owns the place. Well we'll see who's toughest when I steal her lunch money. _That made me growl louder. My siblings' minds were demanding to know what I'd heard.

"Someone wants to have sex with Rose and someone else wants to steal Alice's lunch money," I spat, marching past my brothers and sisters as they too began growling, the boys protectively, the girls angrily.

The guy who had wanted to bed Rose was a kid named Mike Newton, and judging by his mind, he thought pretty highly of himself. And the girl wanting to steal Alice's lunch money was called Jessica, and she seemed to be the 'queen bee' around here. She had blue eyes and brown hair, but compared to the girl I'd seen get out the truck, it looked lank and boring. _She _looked lank and boring. I fleetingly realised that a whole load of other thoughts were about me – most of the girls, actually, were admiring my ass. Damn tight jeans. I'd had to endure hundreds of years of high school, and frankly it wasn't flattering any more, it was boring and creepy.

My family were walking beside me again, and I could feel Jasper trying to calm me down. My first day here was going to be as crap as it always was, maybe even more so.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, sorry I forgot to add this to my first chapter... But here goes.

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. There, I said it. *sobs* but the plot is still mine. Thanks;)

Chapter two

BPOV

I was just hurrying through the entrance of the doorway when someone grabbed my wrist. _Oh no._ I didn't even have to look to know who it was holding me. Jessica Stanley, the fakest girl out there. Well I thought so. Apparently, the boys thought she was hot. Bleugh. I'll never understand boys.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face my bully, who was standing with her free hand on her hip, flanked by her bimbo minions, Lauren Mallory included. Lauren called herself Jessica's right hand girl, but it was a well-known fact that she was the biggest bitch in the school, a fact that can't have gone unnoticed by Jess – gossip spreads f_ast_ in a tiny school like Forks High – yet she still kept her in her gang. Sometimes I don't understand girls, either.

"Jessica," I greeted quietly with a small nod of my head in her direction.

"Swan," she sneered in response.

I swallowed hard, eyes on the scratched concrete beneath our feet. She still had a hold of my arm and we both realised this at the same time.

"Eww, get this gross little whore's germs OFF ME!" Jessica screamed, snatching her hand away as if she'd been burned and wiping it on Lauren's jacket. Lauren, in turn, screeched and lunged at her friends, rubbing her jacket on their clothes to 'get it clean'.

I sighed, shook my head and ran inside as quickly as I could manage with my clumsiness. Once I was walking down the corridor to my first lesson, English, I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. Those bitches certainly knew how to get at me. Unfortunately for me, everyone in the corridor seemed to have witnessed the scene outside and were all whispering and leering at me. I blinked several times, breathing deeply. I'd promised my mom I'd get through today, and I would.

I managed to make it to English in one piece and I discovered everyone was already in their seats, with only one spare. _God dammit!_ I thought. _I need to get to class earlier. _The girl I would have to sit next to was petite, had amazing hair zigzagging in different directions and had pale skin, even paler than mine. She reminded me of a pixie, small and beautiful. I couldn't recall ever seeing her, I would have remembered someone as remarkable as her. She must be one of the new kids.

"Nice of you to join us, Isabella," the teacher moaned. I winced at him using my full name; Charlie called me that when he wanted to beat me. "You will have to sit next to Alice Cullen."

I nodded and made my way over to my desk. _Cullen_. That was it, Cullen.

I sat down beside her carefully, trying not to knock her arm as she wrote the date on her notebook in loopy, sloping letters. I got my own book out and continued with the song lyrics I was working on.

Compared to Alice's neat calligraphy, my writing was simply atrocious. _It figures_, the evil little voice sniggered from the back of my head. _She's gorgeous and cute and pretty, whereas you're just plain ugly._

I nodded my head inconspicuously so that even I couldn't tell I was doing it. But somehow, Alice noticed.

"What are you nodding at?" she asked in a voice that sounded like tinkling bells. It matched her appearance and her writing.

"Nothing." I frowned.

She looked puzzled for a moment, before reaching out and shaking my hand. "I'm Alice Cullen. And you are...?" she prompted.

"Bella Swan. But I suppose you've already been told about me."

"Oh, so you're the infamous Bella Swan? Yes, that girl... Jessica, is it? She tried to talk to me about you." She had a thoughtful but apologetic smile on that pretty face of hers.

I was about to turn away, when something hit me. Hard. (Not physically, but you get my drift.)

"Wait... you said _tried_ to talk to you?"

"Yeah. I just waved her off and told her to get lost."

"What did she do?" I asked curiously. No-one talks to Jessica Stanley like that and gets away with it!

"She said we should be friends." She shuddered lightly, making me smile for the first time in God knows how long. "And I said, _'No way would I ever even consider making friends with a gossip._'"

I grinned, sitting back in my chair. Wait. I'd let my guard down already. I'd only just met Alice yet I was getting relaxed around her already. I couldn't trust her yet. She'd have to earn it. People build you up just to throw you back down again, and it's not a pleasant feeling. I should know, from experience.

"She's right you know," I said quietly, staring at my book.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"Well. Whatever she said, it's probably true. If you want a good first reputation at this school then you'd better stay away from me. And don't talk to me, either. It'd be social suicide."

"Bella, stop," Alice ordered. "I don't care about a reputation. I want to get to know the real you, not make assumptions from idle gossip."

Whoa. "Really?"

"Really. I know, why don't I tell you a bit about myself? Ok. My name's Mary Alice Cullen, I just moved from Arizona. I live with my family; Esme and Carlisle, my adoptive parents, and my adoptive siblings, Emmett and Rosalie and Jasper." She blushed when she said Jasper's name. "Jasper's also my boyfriend. And there's Edward, my real brother. He lives with us too. I love shopping, and spending a lot of money, I love fashion, too. I'm currently working on a blue prom dress but since we moved I haven't had much time to continue with the design... Hey, I know! Why don't you come over on Saturday! We could go shopping and have a sleepover and everything-"

I was starting to panic. "No, Alice, I can't."

She stopped talking to take a breath. "Why not?"

"Because..." I couldn't think of anything! "Just... because."

With that, the bell rang. I hadn't realised how much of the lesson we'd wasted just Alice talking and me listening.

I gathered up my things, sharpish and scooted out the door, throwing a "bye Alice" over my shoulder as I rushed to Government.

The lessons leading up to lunch pretty much flew by; I didn't have any more of the Cullens on any of them, which was extra good. The last thing I needed was someone else to outshine me in pretty much everything. Except being useless. I was champion at that.

I walked towards the cafeteria, psyching myself up for whatever was to come. I pushed open the doors and walked inside.

EPOV

My lessons were boring as hell, as predicted. Having to listen to human's thoughts was annoying, so I tuned them out and daydreamed about the beautiful girl in the carlot. I hoped I'd see her again, but so far she hadn't been in any of my lessons, which put me in more of a bad mood. I was going hunting with my brothers on Saturday, to quench my thirst.

In the cafeteria I sat down at a table which already seated Rose, Alice, Jasper and Emmett. Rose was chatting to her boyfriend, but Alice was staring into space, looking frustrated and confused about something. Jasper was staring at her worriedly. I quickly 'turned on' her thoughts and listened.

_She's so mysterious. And a little weird. Who the hell would turn down a shopping trip and a sleepover?_

Her concern was making me confused. We never mixed with humans, never spoke to them unless necessary, mostly because of the vile thoughts they were thinking. Some were genuine, nice people, but I hadn't found many of those in my many years.

"Who are you thinking about, Alice?" I enquired, capturing her attention immediately.

She sighed and sat back. I could feel Jasper trying to calm her down, but she waved him off with a, "No, Jazz."

Jazz and I exchanged a look, vampire quick.

"Answer him, then." He said simply.

"Uhm. You're probably gonna hate me for this, but I got chatting with a human girl..."

Everyone at the table growled at this, too quiet for the dumb humans to hear.

"Shush," Alice said. We all silenced. "Right, so... her name is Bella Swan, and—"

"Why on _earth _were you talking to _her_?" Rosalie interrupted. "Have you not heard what people have been saying about that slut?"

_Shut the fuck up. NOW. You do NOT want to make me angry._

I chuckled quietly.

"You too, Edward. She's a real nice girl, but there's something off with her. Yes, Rose, I have heard the gossip, but you of all people should know that nine times out of ten they're not true," Alice replied.

Then the doors of the cafeteria opened, and we all looked up to see who was entering. I almost gasped in shock and excitement. If I were Alice I would have jumped on the table and started singing 'Hallelujah'. But I'm not Alice, so I just settled for placing a small smile on my face. Jasper looked at me quizzically, then followed my gaze towards the angel that was slowly making her way through the tables. I froze. Shit. Jazz could feel my emotions. He looked back at me.

_Love? _

_Lust?_

_Excitement?_

_Happiness?_

I glared at him. He sat back and grinned.

"Fuck you, Jazz," I said, sticking my tongue out like a five year old.

_Ha! Eddie's got a crush! _Jasper was thinking.

_I wish they'd tell me what they're talking about, _Alice thought.

_What the hell are those two dickheads talking about now? _Rosalie scoffed in her head. How... pleasant.

_I wonder if Alice is right? Could that girl be genuine? _Emmett was actually thinking maturely, for once.

Alice suddenly went rigid and her eyes glazed over. I watched the vision with her.

APOV

I was being pulled into a vision.

_Bella is pulling into the driveway of her house. Her heart skips a beat as she takes in her father's cruiser in the driveway of a disgusting little house with peeling paint and crumbling bricks. This seemed to be her home. She cut the engine, then muttered to herself, "You can do this. For mom." Then she got out, a determined look on her face. She marched up to the front door after slamming the one on her car, and took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she turned the door knob and walked slowly in, she quietly closed the door behind her but when she turned back she was confronted by an aged, angry face. This was... her dad?_

"_Where have you been, you bitch!" he shouted at her. Bella cowered away from his voice._

"_I was at school, Dad, you know that," she whispered._

"_I don't give a shit! The point is that you didn't do my dinner so you must pay! I'm hungry!" He walked out of the kitchen, but not before spitting in Bella's face._

As I was pulled out of the vision, Edward and I exchanged horrified looks. _What did he mean by 'you must pay'?_ I couldn't help thinking.

Edward growled at the thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Like I said in the last chapter... I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!:'(

Thanks for those amazing guys that reviewed! Pleaaaaaaaaaase review!

BPOV

So far, so good. I had managed to get through all of the tables without tripping up – or _being_ tripped up, for that matter. So I went over to the queue and stood there with my tray, before realising that Charlie hadn't given me any money to get any food with. Damn him. I was starving my ass off, but I wasn't about to humiliate myself by turning out my empty pockets in front of everyone.

Shoving my tray back on the pile in frustration, I stepped out the line and weaved my way back through the tables. I was about to escape to freedom through the double doors when I heard that shrill soprano voice – the voice of Alice Cullen.

"BELLA!"

I froze in my tracks. The loudness had somehow bounced off the walls and many people were now whispering and staring at the scene that was taking place, like their very own live tv soap.

I turned round and found Alice gripping onto my aching wrist with a firm cold hand. She had a big friendly smile on her face, undeterred by the onlookers. And there was one thing that threw me – she seemed... almost glad to see me. _Almost._ But I know my place; I'm a useless waste of space and as far as everybody else is concerned, I'm one of the many faults of this earth and I shouldn't ever have been born. I couldn't befriend Alice, no matter how nice she acted towards me. I've learned not to trust people because if I become too attached or relaxed around someone then I'll just be setting myself up for a short-lived friendship that's doomed to fail anyway.

"What do you want, Alice?" I asked cautiously, all too aware of her freezing hand on my arm.

Alice laughed, a beautiful, melodic sound that reminded me of tinkling bells. "Bella, would you like to come and sit with me and my family over there?"

Was this a joke? It had to be. Although the sincerity was easily identifiable in her golden eyes.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I can't." I tried to tug my hand out of hers, but her grip was like iron.

"Please, Bella!" Alice pouted. How could I resist those eyes...?

What hurt the most was the fact that Alice insisted on carrying this prank out in front of everybody else. Well, I reasoned, I'd had worse, and let Alice drag me across the cafeteria. How spiteful could a person be?

I heard the whispers and remarks around us, the majority coming from Jessica and Lauren's table in venomous hisses.

"_Oh. My. God."_

"_Who does that bitch think she is, hanging out with Alice Cullen!"_

"_She's probably only doing it to get popular."_

"_She's a fucking wreck. No wonder her mother killed herself."_

"_Yeah, I heard that Bella was such an annoying child that she drove her own mom to the edge."_

It hurt to hear people making their own assumptions about my mother's death. Surely that was none of their business.

If Alice heard all of that, then she didn't say anything. For that, if anything, I was grateful.

I kept my eyes on the floor at all times. Even when Alice gently pushed me down on a chair, I kept my gaze on the table and I could feel several burning my back. The excited chatter continued around us once again.

"So, Bella," I heard a loud voice say, no doubt a member of Alice's family. I looked up, a little frightened if I'm honest to see five pairs of liquid gold eyes staring at me. They were all beautiful. The one who had spoken was a large, rather intimidating guy. You could see he liked to work out, bands of muscle around his arms. He had one arm around a stunning blonde who was perfectly proportioned. She was beside Alice, and she beside a cute-looking guy with blonde curly hair, who also had his arm around her. The fifth Cullen was astonishingly handsome. No, screw that – he was _HOT._ He had unruly bronze hair that seemed to stick out in every direction, as if he'd made a habit of running his pale hands through it. He, too, had golden orbs and I could imagine myself getting lost in their depths...

I quickly lowered my gaze again and cleared my throat a little. "Yeah?"

"I'm Emmett, this is my girlfriend Rosalie, her brother Jasper, and of course you know his girlfriend Alice, then there's her brother, Edward."

I nodded in acknowledgement, still refusing to look up.

"So you're, what, eighteen?" Emmett questioned.

I shook my head slowly. "Seventeen."

"Same age as Eddie and Alice, then," Emmett commented.

I nodded again.

"Who do you live with? I heard your dad is the Chief police?" Rosalie just about spat. I sat there, rigid. I couldn't even get away from my abusive father at school! But a wave of relief came crashing down, smothering me. At least Rosalie was treating me how I was used to being treated. As if she didn't want me here; like I didn't belong – which I didn't.

I nodded lamely.

"Ok, so-"

Suddenly, someone barged by me, knocking my elbow off the table in the process. I then felt something wet seeping into the neck of my top at the back. I smirked tiredly, then muttered, "niiiiiiiiiiiiice. That's the fifth time this month. Don't you ever give up?" I deliberately spoke under my breath so I wouldn't be heard.

"Hey, Swan!"

"Guess not," I murmured.

The Cullens chuckled. How the hell had they heard that? Now they'd definitely think I was weird.

And that's why I shouldn't give myself false hope by hanging out with them. What did I think I'd achieve?

"Yes?" I said.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Okay," I simply said, and stood up suddenly, throwing my chair backwards in my haste. Unfortunately (note the sarcasm) it flew into Jessica and her bitch gang.

I turned around, and I have to say it was difficult hiding my smirk.

Jessica screeched, her salad landing in her hair. It was an extremely funny sight to see.

"YOU FUCKING _WRECKED _MY HAIR, YOU WHORE!" she yelled. By this time everybody was, again, silent and watching.

I shrugged by way of answer.

Jessica seemingly recovered when she grinned evilly, her glossy lips turning up into a smug smile. Her cronies were already busy plucking lettuce leaves from her blonde extensions.

"Oh, but you wouldn't know anything about hair, now, would you?" she said. "Your fucking bitch of a mother didn't bother passing on her skills, did she?"

She'd struck a nerve and she knew it. Most of the school did. When she was alive, my mom had worked full-time in a posh hair salon in Port Angeles.

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" I replied, placing an innocent expression on my face. "But at least I can do my own hair, instead of getting someone else to do it like a baby." My mind screamed at me to stop. I'd never spoken back like this before, and it was sure to get me into trouble later on.

Jessica looked outraged. "Yeah, well at least mine _looks_ good. Yours, on the other hand, looks like crap."

"Like I give a shit what _you _have to say about my hair! You keep talking about _my _mom, but what about yours? I think I saw her standing outside the local strip club in six-inch heels and leather underwear."

The whole cafeteria burst out laughing. I, however, just turned on my heel and strode from the room, miraculously without falling over. I ran into the girls' bathroom and sighed, scowling at my reflection in the dusty mirror. I reached in my bag and pulled out my makeup. I hadn't put any on this morning, so I looked even more like shit than usual.

I put on my mascara and eyeliner, and as I was just brushing my hair into glossy waves down my back, the bell rang.

_Oh great._ I had biology now, officially one of the crappiest lessons in the history of the world. I mean, I got straight A's in every subject, but I still had my preferences – English was my favourite. I always skipped Gym, and for some reason nobody ever noticed.

I looked at my reflection again. Ok. This was as good as it was going to get for me, and I suppose I was quite pretty. It was subtle, but it was still there. Now to face the music. I walked out the door and towards Biology.


	4. Chapter 4

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT

Thanks for all the lovely reviews people, I really appreciate them!

I know I don't update often but I do try :)

Much Love! Xxx

EPOV

I walked into biology. To be honest, it was extremely tiring and as I'd sat through class after class of subjects, I just didn't have the heart to find anything enjoyable anymore. Mr Banner was taking the register and I was relieved when I was one of the last ones in and was able to steal a bench at the back, with another seat beside me to put my bag on.

I smelt her before I saw her. Freesias and strawberries... Man, she had a gorgeous scent. She was beautiful on the outside, too. But unfortunately I'd had to listen to thought after thought of bullshit about the mysterious beauty. I'd heard the nasty comments in the cafeteria as Alice dragged her through the hall.

For some strange, unidentifiable reason, I felt the urge to take her in my arms and comfort her, protect her from everything in the world, and snap the necks of those who dared badmouth her. I wasn't sure where this feeling came from, but it was nice.

She was simply amazing. When Alice had brought her over to sit with us at lunch I couldn't believe my luck, but I knew that we'd have more pressing matters to deal with rather than my newfound fascination of this angel. That vision Alice had had was positively disturbing. In it, we had seen Bella's father; the Chief of Police, as Rosalie had oh-so-kindly pointed out. None of us had missed the rigid stance of her body once her father had been brought into the conversation. Alice took it upon herself to quickly explain under her breath to the others what she had seen in her vision. Rosalie, being the bitch she was, still wasn't convinced that Bella could be trusted.

Bella. Bella means 'beautiful' in Italian, and that she was.

When she'd glanced up at me after sitting down at our table, my heart, had it been beating, would have turned somersaults. Her eyes were breathtaking, deep pools of melted chocolate, fringed with thick eyelashes. When she looked down quickly, I felt a stab of disappointment. I had never wanted to read anyone's mind so much in my existence. God, what I would have given to hear what she was thinking. I did, however, hear Jazz's mind as he detected her emotions.

_She's wistful. She feels sad, ashamed, disappointed and unworthy._

All of these emotions were apparently emanating from Bella as she'd looked into my eyes. None of it had made sense.

We were finally getting somewhere when that stupid bitch Jessica made Bella run out of the cafeteria crying.

"Serves her right," Rosalie had muttered, and Alice and I both looked at her with horrified expressions. That girl never knew when to fucking stop. There was a fine line between joking and cruel, and she had crossed over to the latter. God I hated her. I appreciated that she'd been through a lot in the past with Royce, but that was no excuse to behave like such a bitch to people that didn't deserve it, especially Bella, when she clearly had a hard life already, without Rosalie's bitchy interference.

Anyway. Back to biology.

Mr Banner was on about onions or something (I wasn't really listening, to be honest, I was too busy thinking about Bella) when I smelt her coming down the corridor. I could smell her tears, too, and I wanted to smash both Jessica and Rosalie's heads in. I'd have no problem doing both.

I glanced around the room briefly, doing a song and dance in my head. The only spare seat was beside me.

She walked in with her head low, her beautiful hair framing her face. Her slightly red eyes made it evident she'd been crying, and I had to grip onto the side of the desk so that I stayed sat down.

"Sorry I'm late, Sir," she said quietly and apologetically.

_Damn. I thought I'd get a break from her smart-ass ways today. Guess not. It really does my head in when she knows every answer – I don't get to teach anything!_

I stared incredulously as the teacher said, "No worries, Miss Swan, take a seat next to Mr Cullen at the back." How could Mr Banner think that shit about my Bella? ... Now I was getting all possessive. I don't know where this came from, but I wanted to kill my biology teacher.

On the bright side, from his mind I was able to see that Bella was in fact a straight A student. That was a bonus; gorgeous _and _smart.

Also, we were, technically, the same age. Which was a good thing.

After her little confrontation with Jessica, I'd seen from the other students' minds that things like this usually happened, but Bella usually sat back and took it. So she was strong. And I also got to see her fiery side when she had a go at Jessica. It didn't last long, of course, because she mentioned her mother. Everyone else seemed to think that it was innocent Bella's fault for her mother's death. Most had been informed by their parents, who in turn had been informed by Bella's own father. That disgusting pig didn't even deserve to live on this earth. No, screw that; he didn't deserve to live, full stop.

She slowly made her way towards the desk. Surprisingly, I didn't have the urge to drain her glorious-smelling blood, but I did however envision myself worshipping her in ways that no-one had ever done before. I wanted to make her feel loved; like she meant something. More than anyone in her life had ever done. I wanted to make her happy.

She got out her books but she didn't open them. She just opened a blank notebook and began doodling. Mindless little pictures adorned the pages already, and they all seemed heartbreakingly depressing. All in black pen, they consisted of sad, crying eyes and lonely, dark rooms. I wasn't sure what to make of it; it probably reflected her mood and who could blame her for feeling like crap when people treated her like it?

As Mr Banner droned on, I darted my eyes at vampire speed towards the angel sitting next to me. I could feel her warmth and hear her heart beating at a steady rhythm in her chest. Thinking of chests, she wasn't bad in that department, although I wasn't really able to admire her curves when she was wearing a coat. I suppose it was rational; the chill of Forks weather haunted its' population daily.

I memorised her beautiful creamy ivory skin; her blinking doe-like eyes; her long, chocolate curls falling down her back; her cute nose and gorgeous full lips the colour of red rose petals.

I noticed fleetingly that she'd put on some eyeliner and mascara, accentuating the beauty of her eyes.

I sighed quietly. She was AMAZING.

And to top it all off she had a mouth-wateringly delicious scent. Bella Swan was my kind of girl. I found myself wanting to get to know her.

"Ok. Get on with the sheet in pairs, please, class."

The teacher set the class to work. I retrieved the worksheet from the desk and placed it between Bella and I.

"Do you want me to do it quickly, so we can talk?" I suggested. I hoped she wouldn't think I was showing off.

She lifted her gaze from her doodles, catching my eyes for a second, before she seemed to make a revelation in her head and she looked away again. Then the most adorable thing happened. Her cheeks began tinting pink as she blushed. I felt the venom pooling in my mouth and I had to swallow it before I attacked her and started licking her or something stupid.

"Sure," was her only answer. I wrote down the first answer on the sheet; it was so fucking easy I could write this shit down with my eyes closed and writing with my left hand. But then she spoke again. "Um. I mean. If that's ok with you...?"

I smiled slightly at the sweetness of her stuttering. "Of course it is. I just want to get this over with so I can talk to you properly. I didn't really get much time to engage in a conversation with you at lunch."

By the time I'd finished speaking, I'd finished writing down the answers on the sheet. I shoved it to the side and leaned placed the side of my face in my hand, leaning on my elbow and turning towards Bella to show her she had my full attention.

"Finished."

"Oh, um... that was quick." Indeed it was. I didn't add that part, though. The blood rushed to her cheeks again. I hated it that she was so embarrassed and obviously uncomfortable with me, but I wanted that to change. Not that blush though. That was _my _blush. And I fucking loved it.

I smiled crookedly; it wasn't mine as of yet, but it would be – not if I couldn't help it. That got her attention. She sat awkwardly still, but at least now she was looking at me.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked, confused.

"You."

"Oh, um... why?"

I grinned again, but ignored her question. "Has anyone ever told you you look cute when you blush?"

As predicted, the blood rushed yet again to her cheeks. Then I felt her body tense beside mine. I looked back up at her curiously.

"I can see what you're doing," she choked out in a whisper. "Your family, too. I know you're probably not as well-informed as you should be about me; once you know the full story you're sure to regret even talking to me, let alone inviting me to sit with you at lunch."

It was my turn to be confused. What the fuck did I do? What the fuck did _we _do?

"What exactly is my family doing?" I asked.

She sighed, staring at the wall at the front of the classroom. "Well you're knew, so I'm not going to judge you. I'm not that sort of person." She blinked a few times to calm herself. "I've already told Alice not to hang around with me. It's social suicide."

"As I'm sure my sister has already informed you, we don't care."

She sighed again. It was a telltale sign that she was unhappy and I wanted to make it all better.

"Are you sure you don't? 'Cause it'll get a whole lot worse when rumours start spreading."

"There are already rumours, Bella."

"I know," she said in a voice so tiny I'm not even sure she said it.

"Bella, can I ask you a question?"

She nodded, although I could see that she was dreading it already.

I took a deep, unnecessary breath. I think I was dreading the answer, too. "Bella, what happened to your mom?"

She stiffened again. I couldn't bear it anymore; I needed to touch her, to sooth her, to comfort her. I didn't want her uncomfortable in my presence. I reached my hand under the desk and slowly, very slowly, gripped one of her small ones. I laced my fingers with hers, rubbing soothing circles on her palm with my thumb. Her hand was warm, and it felt natural holding it in mine, like it was supposed to be there. Gradually, over a space of exactly one minute and thirteen seconds, she relaxed enough to look back at me. Her beautiful eyes were puzzled, but grateful. I smiled at her, and to my utter surprise, she smiled back. It was small, but it was genuine and touched her eyes. I think this was the first time I'd seen her smiling since I'd actually seen her for the first time earlier that day. It was like fireworks were going off around her. She was absolutely breathtaking when she smiled. I wanted to make her smile every minute of her life.

And then I knew what that weird, fuzzy feeling inside me was.

Love.

I was in love with Bella Swan.

And it didn't scare me in the slightest.


	5. Chapter 5

**ERI DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR THE CHARACTERS.**

**I do, however, own a small meerkat cuddly toy, a can of green hairspray, and a One Direction calendar.**

**Unfortunately, for my last chapter, I only received ONE review. Which is depressing :/ More reviews = motivation. Motivation = QUICKER UPDATES. **

**But on the brighter side of life, I also received many Favourites! Thank you, I love you all:D**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Eleni... she's been bugging me all week to get this done, so here we are;)**

**ENJOY xxxxxx**

**BPOV**

His hand was like ice. The blood was rushing through my veins at such a speed that I thought I would spontaneously combust, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Whether that was from the pain of Edward asking about my mother, or about the fact that such a gorgeous creature was sitting here beside me, HOLDING MY HAND, I would never know. Perhaps it was a mixture of the two.

I didn't feel as though I was worthy of even being in this godlike creature's presence, let alone sit in such a close proximity to him or touch him. It felt like I needed to earn the privilege or something. Who on earth would want to touch me? I was disgusting, worthless, a whore. I didn't deserve touches of comfort or love.

I struggled to keep my breathing under control. My spare hand gripped the pen tightly as an overwhelming urge to reach over and touch him bubbled up inside me. The feeling was torturous. What was his game? What did he want from me? Whatever it was he wanted I had nothing worth having. I had nothing to give. So why was his family being so insistent with me... Why wouldn't they leave me alone to suffer in silence like I had done for the past seventeen years of my pathetic little life?

**EPOV**

The want and need to wipe away her tears was impossible to suppress. Especially knowing that I had been the one to cause, or at least trigger them. My Bella deserved happiness. I wanted to find out who had hurt her so much that she'd actually started to cry and kill them slowly and painfully, using their agonised shrieks and screams as my cell ringtone.

Her small warm hand fitted into mine with ease and it felt soft and right. It was as if it was destined to be this way, and I remembered that saying, _everything happens for a reason_. Maybe it did. Maybe it _had _happened. Maybe the reason I was brought into the world was to honour, cherish and protect this beautiful girl.

_Aw, shit. Now it sounds like I'm reciting some slightly messed-up wedding vows or something. _

_Slightly? What the fuck are you on, man? Remind me never to let you speak your thoughts out loud. You'd probably get burned at the stake or something!_

_Oh right... different era. _

I chanced a glance at my beautiful angel. Even with silent tears running down her flawless face, she was still a work of art. How anyone could ever think about damaging her was beyond me. With me around, at least, anyone who did wouldn't get away with it. And I intended to do everything in my power to ensure her safety. I would follow her around like some creepy vampiric stalker if need be. I vowed to myself in my head that from that moment on, nobody would harm a single hair on her innocent head.

I angered myself by briefly wondering if Bella was innocent in all sense of the word. Had her own father gone so low as to not only hit his own flesh and blood, but to possibly... rape her, too?

_He better fucking not have._

_Oh, yeah? Or what? What you gonna do?_

_I'll fucking kill that evil sick-minded bastard if I have to._

_Really? What about the treaty?_

_Fuck the treaty._

_Seriously, though? _

_Shut the fuck up, Headward._

_Stop swearing at me. I might be in your head but I'm also your subconscious. Do you really want to risk breaking the treaty and earn nothing but war between those stupid mutts and your own family? Do you really want to put them in danger?_

As my mind wandered, I continued to draw little circles on the back of her soft hand. Her heart, which had been thundering a few minutes ago, was slowing to a normal pace as she became more comfortable with my touch. I felt a smile tug at my lips, a genuine smile that reached my eyes, not forced like usual. My existence had been long and miserable. I didn't regret Carlisle changing me, definitely not, but I had wondered more often than not what the hell I was even here for. Why should I be here, drinking stupid animal blood, when I could have died when I should have? If everyone tried to stay alive when they were on the verge of death then the world would be Vamp Central.

I knew they worried about me. All of them. And living through years of fucking annoying 'concerned' thoughts was more than enough to tick me off. They all worried that I would be forever alone, wandering the earth and preying on animals for as long as I existed. Their attempts at understanding were laughable. The only one that truly knew the meaning of the word 'alone' was Carlisle. He knew how it felt to feel so terribly by yourself, subjected to this life and loathing yourself for being such a hateful, disgusting monster, able to make a human piss themselves just by looking at them. He was the only one who knew how much pain I was in (well maybe Jasper knew, too), whereas the others tried to imagine life without their mate, but couldn't. Either that, or they couldn't remember life before meeting their significant fucking other and refused to think about the 'Dark Times' as Alice so merrily put it inside that spazzoid jibber jabbering mind of hers.

Don't get me wrong, Alice was like a sister to me, probably one of my closest siblings, but she was only sufferable in small doses. Especially when she goes into shopping mode. Internal shiver. Jesus Christ. Don't even get me started. She dragged me along on one of her retarded shopping sprees once. Let's just say you do NOT want to get between Alice and a pair of shoes. Seriously.

"Bella?" I whispered softly. Her name dripped off my tongue like the sweetest honey, leaving a delicious aftertaste in my mouth. I wanted to say it again and again, and in better circumstances, I probably would have. I'm not sure why I even spoke, maybe it was an excuse to say her name and look at her without looking openly psychotic.

Her eyes clenched shut as an invisible hand clenched on my non-beating heart also. She weakly tugged her hand away from me, and although my mind screamed at me to hold on, I didn't use my inhuman strength against her. That was downright _wrong_. I was brought up to be gentlemanly and not to touch a woman without her permission. Sure, I'd taken her hand – wait, _taken_ makes it sound like I stole it or something... – but she could have easily pulled back. I didn't keep her soft hand locked in my iron grip. I probably had more strength in my pinky finger than Bella had in her whole body, but that wasn't _me_. I could've forced her hand into mine, but I would NEVER do that. Especially not to the love of my existence.

"What's wrong?" I asked, internally cursing as the bell rang.

Her eyes snapped open as she scraped that damned chair back on the floor and snatched up her things. I didn't badger her as she walked away, no matter how much I longed to find out what was bothering her.

I did, however, follow at a distance and watch her as she made her way down the hallway. I walked after her with minute difficulty what with the guys glaring at me and the girls pawing at me. Fuck the lot of them.

Bella didn't go the way I was expecting her to. I had memorised her timetable after reading it quickly in biology as it had been written in her notebook on the previous page, and I was waiting for her to turn left and head to the girls' changing rooms. She didn't.

After the halls started emptying, it was just me and Bella. Bella and me. Edward and Bella. I fought the urge to smile at that. Hell, I didn't even know if there even _was_ an 'us', but I'd be damned if I didn't try to make that shit happen. I wanted this girl. I was already possessive of her the way a vampire would be a mate.

I noticed where we were headed after a minute. Towards the parking lot. I was confused, to say the least. Bella struck me as the kind of girl who was academic; straight As and never late to class. The girl next door type who studied in the library in her spare time, and read classics just for the hell of it. Bella Swan was my kind of girl.

As we emerged outside into the brilliant weather of Forks that is no sun and clouded skies, the bright whiteness of the sky bounced off Bella's silky chestnut waves as they fell down her back in magnificent beautiful curls. She looked like a goddess. I imagined twisting strands of it round my fingers, I imagined tangling my hands in it whilst we kissed, I imagined burying my face in it and inhaling her gorgeous scent whilst we made sweet, sweet love...

_Get it together, Cullen! Mind out of the gutter! _

Oh, yeah, right. Bella.

I was more than aware of the fact that Bella was wreaking havoc on my vampire senses and patience. I was no longer patient. Venom pooled in my mouth as the amazing sound of my imaginary Bella moaning my name as I pushed her to ecstasy...

Wow. Nobody had ever had this effect on me before. I had never fantasised about anyone. I had never loved anyone but my family before. And I had certainly never got a boner by _imagining _things.

Things with beautiful molten chocolate eyes and chestnut hair slinking down to her waist.

I shook my head. Bella wasn't a thing. She was a beautiful creature that should be worshipped.

I looked up.

_Fuck!_

Her truck was no longer in the parking lot. And I hadn't even heard it leave.

I dove into the woods at the side of the road and ran alongside her vehicle, under cover of the trees at an excruciatingly slow pace. I was used to everything being a competition with Em and Jazz and totally making mincemeat out of them when I beat them at anything speed-related.

Bella pulled into what I assumed was her house.

_Where else would she go, dumbass? And remember Alice's vision?_

My jaw tightened at my fucking bigmouthed subconscious. Like fuck I remembered that vision. And it was something I wanted to forget, and fast.

The house was, to be blunt, a shithole. The peeling paint would have made Esme hurl, and Alice at the lack of life. It all seemed dead and like something a druggy would live in... or a drunk.

My darling girl shoved the car door open with some force, and she slammed the offending thing shut without a backward glance. As soon as she disappeared inside, I flew around the house at lightning speed to check for open windows. Sure enough, I found one right next to a massive tree. I bounced off the trunk and leapt in through the gap. Landing on the faded lilac carpet lightly, I looked up and around. I appeared to be in Bella's bedroom. I took in a few features; an ancient computer on an equally antique wooden desk; a tiny uncomfortable-looking bed and an evident bookshelf that only held a few actual books. I scanned the titles. Bella seemed like the kind of person who appreciated the classics and reread them a lot instead of going for anything new or modern. For me, that made her all the more desirable.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Bella's freesia/strawberry scent was wavering all around me, almost suffocating me. It was the most exhilarating feeling to be in Bella's bedroom. It no doubt held many memories for her, but as much as it pained me to think it, I realised that if her mother had died when Bella was young, then the memories were not likely to be positive at all.

I almost broke something when I thought of all the things he could have done to his own daughter. His fucking DAUGHTER. Sure he'd lost a wife, but Bella'd lost a mother. And that was no excuse to put your hands on a woman. There was never an excuse for that disgusting behaviour. No woman deserved to be beaten and possibly raped. Especially by someone who was supposed to be supportive and trustworthy.

I listened for a few minutes as Bella busied herself downstairs. I wondered what she was doing. It sounded like she was cleaning dishes and then I heard her open a couple of cupboards and retrieve some items. I heard the packets rustling and then the distinct smell of spaghetti, uncooked, seeped through the floorboards.

Something did not seem right. Bella is a straight A student. Bella skipped a lesson. Bella gets home, then Bella starts randomly cooking spaghetti? Not weird much...

Suddenly the most beautiful sound in the history of the world reached my ears.

Bella was singing softly to herself as she clattered around the kitchen. The sound of her melodic voice held me under a spell. _Her_ spell.

Although she sang intentionally quietly, she had the most soulful, gut-wrenchingly heart-breaking quality to her singing. The lyrics to the song I vaguely noted were by that chick Taylor Swift or some shit, music I'd never paid much interest to – until now.

I couldn't take the distance any more. I needed to be closer to her. To see her. I wanted to feel her, too, but that couldn't happen. Yet.

I flitted out the open door and down the rickety stairs, managing to make not even the slightest creak. I stood at the bottom of the steps, just inside the hall, peeking through the doorway to the kitchen where my love was now seated at the table. As she finished up her song, venom tears sprang to my eyes.

"_It's a love story,_

_Baby just say... yes_."

She sighed heavily.

"Yes," I whispered. "Yes, yes, yes." I knew she couldn't hear me. It would have been pretty embarrassing if she had.

Suddenly my damned phone started vibrating in my pocket. I snatched it up and a quick glance at the caller ID confirmed it was little pixie Alice. I wondered if she was actually calling for a reason. Sometimes she rang me with fucking stupid news, like she found 'the perfect outfit' for me. Fuck that.

I lifted the cell to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Edward!" Alice squealed, and I cringed, hoping that Bella couldn't hear her loudness.

"What do you want, Alice?" I growled out.

"Omigoshomigoshomigosh! You changed it! I don't know how you did it but it's totally changed now!"

"Hang fire, there, Pix," I hissed at her. "What the fuck are you going on about now?"

I heard her grind her teeth together, probably at her hate for my nickname.

"Her future! _Bella's _future! I mean I can see you skulking about in the shadows watching her, but the vision I had at lunch is no longer there!"

I smiled. "Really? That's great, Alice. Sorry I snapped at you," I apologised with genuine regret.

"And?"

"And I'm sorry I called you Pix."

I could practically hear her answering grin.

"Alice, come on, leave Eddie-Boy to his perverted stalkerish activities," Emmett called with a booming laugh in the background.

"Fuck you, Em," was my brilliant comeback before I hung up.

I glanced through the kitchen doorway. Bella, beautiful Bella, was hunched over a book on the table. She appeared to be writing in it – the book was leatherbound and had yellowing pages. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be like that, or if it was just outrageously old.

I ran over silently and read over her shoulder. She was writing about her day, beginning with describing how disgusting she feels when Jessica and her cronies started screaming about her 'germs' this morning. Stupid dumbass me was probably still admiring her impossible beauty or trying to block out the thoughts around me to have noticed this scene.

It made me sick to my stomach that Jessica and Lauren could have done such a degrading act to another person. No-one deserved this.

_What hurts the most is that no-one seems to notice my pain_, she wrote. _For years I have suffered with this sort of crap, making me feel like a piece of shit, yet nobody has picked up on it. I suppose it makes sense, seeing as I am not worth anything and I should not even be living. Anything I get I should not be allowed to have; I am unworthy of life, of love, of family, of friends. Everything I touch I suck the life out of. _Wait, who was the vampire here? This heartfelt diary extract angered me. As I've said many times before, I wanted to kill everyone who acted ill towards her.

In the distance I heard his mind before his car. His mind was revolting to say the least. Vile thoughts spewed from his brain as I had the unfortunate chance of hearing it.

_I'm going to fucking KILL that bitch for skipping school!_

Oh, Hell no.


End file.
